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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Enjoy the Journey

Sometimes I get so focussed on what I need to get finished that I forget to enjoy myself along the way.

I made this little embroidery to remind me to take a chill pill and be present.

To me the journey is not just about achieving dreams or goals, but also about those myriad little tasks that must be done every day, especially when raising little children. I'm trying to find the fun and beauty in these things too, instead of wishing them done already. I can't afford to wish any time away. Remember that baby I had the other day? Well he's almost five months old and ready to start eating solids. Scary.

This started with some taupe French linen. I then raided my yellow scrap bin and used a double sided fusible to attach the rounded squares.

I made a template for the squares with an opaque milk bottle

The script came next - I used Kirsty kootoyoo's modified stem stitch video. I need more practice judging my starting points so the letters look more natural (you can see this on my 'y's, should have continued the tail line right to the top of the letter). I probably should have used thinner floss too (I used all 6 strands which was hard going punching through the linen and square's fabric).

After the script I toyed with blanket stitching each square down, but it just looked too busy, even with yellow floss. I stuck to backstitch and I think it looks unified and just busy enough.

For the back I finished it off as per this tutorial. I didn't have any double-sided tape in the house though, so it's just sitting there under it's own pressure at the moment.

I will go back and tape it eventually as the fabric is quite bulky with the yellow squares and needs some help staying put.

This piece took me a bit longer to finish than planned (I had originally wanted to enter it in the Celebrate Colour competition), but I followed my own advice and completed it in my own time, enjoying every stitch.

I love the project and design and also that sentence! You are so right, often we miss the great things going on right under our noses because we are somewhere else in our thoughts ... I think your letters look great, by the way!

Oh Kirsty I am trying so hard to enjoy this time. We are doing so many fun things which balances out the boring jobs that seem to be never ending.

Absolutely love your little sign! Love the yellows and that writing is perfect. Six threads is hard going but the words stand out so much better for it. I'm sure you will be able to enter it in something else.

Hope that little baby slows down growing up for you. So rude how they do that! Hope your other little people are enjoying the Christmas season.

That looks so pretty, and the embroidery is just perfect. I definitely agree with you, sometimes I get so caught up in finishing a project I lose sight of the enjoyment of making it. Wow five months, it seems like last week, time is really flying isn't it.

Congratulations on achieving another beauty, I like the project, the colours, the stitching.I admire your resolution, I know how difficult it is with 4 young kids but just thinking about it means giving yourself some consideration. You see what I mean? You are not a machine and deserve some nice moments for yourself. Someone once told me: take the time to smell the roses.

Yes, I totally see Celebrate Color there. Well, it is our own little celebration of yellow today! Don't be hard on yourself with the text embroidery - it's gorgeous. I love all those little square of yellow. Oh, dear, you would have won... but there's something better than winning, isn't there. Here's to enjoying!